Bite (medicine)

A bite is a wound received from the mouth (and in particular, the teeth) of an animal. Animals may bite in self-defence, or in an attempt to predate food; other bite attacks may be apparently unprovoked.

Bite wounds raise a number of medical concerns for the physician or first aider including:

• Generalised tissue damage due to tearing and scratching;
• Serious hemorrhage if major blood vessels are pierced;
• Infection by bacteria or other pathogens;
• Introduction of venom into the wound.
• Introduction of other irritants into the wound, causing inflammation and itching.

Examples

• Flea bites are responsible for the transmission of bubonic plague.
• Mosquito bites are responsible for the transmission of malaria.
• The bites of various animals may transmit rabies.
• The most frequent animal implicated in bite attacks that require medical treatment is Homo sapiens. Prior to antibiotics, serious human bites to the hand often resulted in amputation of a finger (in about 20% of cases).

See also

• Bite (disambiguation)
• snakebite
• Wilderness first aid

External link

• Treating human bites